Page 102 of Ice Rebel

She turned her head, nodding. “That’s right. You told me.”

I didn’t come here to fall into any state of melancholy, which was why I broke out a smile. “You ready to show me your skating skills?”

“I have a teensy tiny admittance.”

“You can’t skate?”

“I have never, ever been in a pair of skates in my life.”

With my grin turning evil, I grabbed her nose between my fingers. “Leave everything to me. I’ve got you and I don’t plan on letting you fall.”

* * *

“You have got to be kidding me.” The tremor in Chelsea’s voice shouldn’t bring a smile to my face, but it did. Not because I wanted her to fall, but because I could also hear the excitement. She’d laughed more times than I’d heard any time we’d been together.

“You’re doing great.”

“You’re crazy.” She had her arms out as if doing so would protect her. I had my hands on her waist, guiding her across the ice. There was something cool about having the place all to ourselves.

The Zamboni had just finished smoothing out the ice before we’d arrived, which made for a clean skate.

“Just breathe,” I told her.

“I am breathing!”

“Now I’m going to let go.”

“Don’t you dare.” She snapped her hand over mine, squeezing my fingers. “How do you do this?”

“It’s easy. Watch me.”

“No. No. No!”

I let her go, hovering around her to ensure she didn’t fall on her face. When I skated back and forth, she growled at me, a decent sound comparable to one I’d provided several times.

She jerked one way and another, but she was doing much better than I’d anticipated, which allowed me to do a little fancy work. You better believe I was having way too much fun.

“I’m going to get you for this.”

I performed a hockey stop, pivoting my hips and digging the blades into the ice. The resulting snow spray had her planting her hands on her hips and glaring at me furiously. But she was steady on her feet for the first time.

Skating backward, I beckoned her with both gloved hands. “Come get me.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

“I am.” I backed away by several feet, giving her a wide berth.

Her lips twisted in frustration, which allowed her to not think about her footwork, instantly skating closer. A little choppy, but she was gaining on me. Then somehow, she stuck her toe pick into the ice without knowing what she was doing. Instead of anticipating the hard stop, her body jerked in full momentum.

When she went flying across the ice, I lunged forward, catching her just in time. The brutal thud as she landed in my arms brought a gasp. But just as unexpected as the woman herself, she burst into laughter.

I lowered my head until our lips were almost touching, enjoying having her in my arms. She licked her lips, which she should know by now was a killer, a draw that I could barely resist. In yet another surprising move, she managed to rise onto the tip of her blades, biting my lip.

“Ouch.”

“You deserved that.”

“Yeah, who says?”